εὐφημισμός Ancient Greek · revision 3129

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=1st century BC, Philodemus|origins=grc εὔφημος}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /eu̯.pʰɛː.miz.mós/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /eɸ.ɸi.mizˈmos/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ef.fi.mizˈmos/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''εὐφημισμός''' (euphēmismós) ''m'' (genitive εὐφημισμοῦ); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is derived from [[εὐφημίζω|tr=euphēmízō|t=to speak words of good omen]] with the suffix [[m|grc|-ισμός|tr=-ismós]].^(Wiktionary) The verb is from [[εὔφημος|tr=eúphēmos|t=of good omen]], formed from [[εὖ|tr=eû|t=well]] and [[φήμη|tr=phḗmē|t=speech, omen]].^(Wiktionary)^(LSJ 1940)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Philodemus uses the phrase ''ἀπ᾽ εὐφημισμοῦ'', “by way of euphemism”.^(LSJ 1940)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It was the use of an auspicious word in place of an ill-omened one, such as ''Εὐμενίδες'' “the Kindly Ones” for the Erinyes, or ''εὐφρόνη'' “the kindly time” for night.^(LSJ 1940) The treatise ''On Style'' ascribed to Demetrius, Cornutus, Palaephatus, Hermogenes and Eustathius use it, often in the phrase ''κατ᾽ εὐφημισμόν''.^(LSJ 1940)

+

+ Modern Greek [[m|el|ευφημισμός|tr=efimismós]] is a figure of speech that replaces an ill-omened word with one of opposite meaning, as when vinegar is called ''γλυκάδι'' “the sweet”, and ''κατ᾽ ευφημισμόν'' is said of a flattering name that does not fit.^(Triantafyllidis 1998)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1st century BC – Philodemus uses it.^(LSJ 1940)

+ * 1st century AD – Cornutus uses ''κατ᾽ εὐφημισμόν''.^(LSJ 1940)

+ * 2nd century AD – Hermogenes uses it in rhetoric.^(LSJ 1940)

+ * 12th century – Eustathius uses it for Eumenides and similar names.^(LSJ 1940)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(rhetoric)'' A [[m|en|euphemism]], the use of an auspicious word for an inauspicious one.^(LSJ 1940)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[εὐφημίζω|tr=euphēmízō]]

+ * [[εὔφημος|tr=eúphēmos]]

+ * [[φήμη|tr=phḗmē]]

+ * [[en|euphemism]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}